New Delhi: Odisha Football Club (FC) defeated Mumbai City by 4-2 in a grueling match of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Tilak Maidan Stadium, Goa, on Monday, January 3, 2022.
The match began with Lalengmawia Ralte of Mumbai City receiving a free-kick. However, Odisha’s Aridai Cabrera shot from the right foot from the left side of the box and scored a net in the 3rd minute. The early goal left the opponents stunned as the pressure increased.
The team fizzled under pressure as Odisha keeper Kamaljit Singh saved Gabriel’s third attempt in the 9th minute. Gabriel gave a long pass to Ahmed Jahouh, who shot from the top right corner, and equalised the scores in the 9th minute.
Mumbai adopted an aggressive play but failed to capitalize on the opportunity before Igor Angulo shot a header from the centre and scored at the 37th minute.
The second half began with Jahouh and Cabrera getting yellow cards in the 46th and 50th minute, respectively. The game turned intense as both teams tried to outweigh the other. Team Odisha substituted Cabrera with Liridon Krasniqi and Isaac Vanmalsawma with Paul Ramfangzauva in the 53rd minute.
Footballers Lalruatthara Lalruatthara, Jonathas de Jesus, Mandar Dessai, and Ygor Catatau substituted Thoiba Singh, Víctor Mongil, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, and Angulo in the 62nd minute, respectively.
The change in strategy worked for Odisha FC as Jerry Mawihmingthanga shot a header from the right side of the box and equalised scores in the 69th minute, while Mumbai’s Catatau received a yellow card at the 70th minute. Odisha’s Nandhakumar Sekar also received a yellow card in the 73rd minute.
Mawihmingthanga scored again in the 76th minute, and Jonathas smashed the ball from proximity in the 88th minute to win the match 4-2.
(Avya Mathur)